Tag: contemporary-art

Why Canvas Art Prints Add Modern Life To Your Walls

leewood asked:

Wallpaper is so passé! Painting your walls is now a much more acceptable and fashionable way of making your home warm and welcoming. But blank painted walls only go half way. You have to put something on those blank walls.

Small lamps, framed photos and other decorations are nice, but you need a gaudy amount to cover an adequate portion of the wall. Even a medium-size wall will “swallow” a handful of smaller decorations.

Never fear, there is a solution. Canvas wall art is a fantastic way to use a minimal amount of decorations to add a maximum amount of color, warmth and excitement to your walls.

For many people canvas wall art may carry a corny or outdated connotation conjuring up images of 1980s pop culture. But modern canvas wall art has evolved considerably, and vendors now offer a wide range of canvas art prints, photos on canvas, Banksy prints and acrylic-mounted art.

So what’s the difference, what type of wall art fits you best? Let’s examine.

Canvas Art Prints

Canvas art prints can range from contemporary art to classical art and comes in a variety of sizes, from large to really, really large.

A nice, custom-ordered canvas print with contemporary art that will create a gentle and warm background image is ideal for most homes. At the other end of the spectrum, you could order a large contemporary art print that really “pops,” that will serve as an automatic conversation starter. And everything else in between.

Photos on Canvas

What if you really do want those family photos or special pictures of your loved ones on your walls, but they are just too small to work without plastering your wall with too many photos?

Again, canvas art prints to the rescue.

Most canvas wall art vendors will now take your photos, blow them up and print them to large canvas boards. Now you can share those special moments and display your loved ones like never before. And best of all, you can choose only the very best photos and still have enough to adequately decorate your walls.

In addition to your own family photos, you can also order large canvas pictures of famous movie scenes or celebrities.

Banksy Prints

Banksy art has become increasingly popular thanks to its pseudo-anonymous British-born originator who made a name for himself painting graffiti that appears to come to life, so to speak.

A lot of artists have copied Banksy’s work and techniques, and now you too can have some of that unique Banksy artwork on your walls thanks to canvas wall art.

Acrylic Art

The best alternative to canvas wall art is to frame your art in an acrylic wall mount.

Many of the same vendors that will create stunning canvas wall art will also take your photos or artwork, print it to high-grade vinyl and seal it in a strong clear acrylic sheet.

Benefits of acrylic art over canvas prints include the ability to easily clean the acrylic mount by simply wiping it down. Same big addition of color and warmth, much easier clean-up. A no-brainer for anyone with kids or for public venues like bars and restaurants.

A Newer Way of Art

Osnat Tzadok asked:

How thought provoking a piece of art can be depends how open you are to the message an artist is trying to tell you. The most artistic work from the 19th century to around the 1970’s was called “modern art”. This approach had artists displaying their emotions and abstractions on canvas as they were able to veer away from the traditional concepts of painting that had been used since the Renaissance era. During the second half of the twentieth century, modern art turned its name more towards contemporary art. Contemporary art encompasses all art being done now. It tends to include any art made from around the 1970s to the present, or after the end of the modern art period.

      When talking about art, modern is not used as a synonym for contemporary. The art that was first defined as modern was the art of the first half of the 20th century. Futurism, Cubism, Constructivism are all parts of modern art. Contemporary art is exactly what the name says, the art of today or the very recent past. Characterized by no real common ground, contemporary art offers a wide range of styles.

      Since World War Two, art movements have included Abstract Expressionism, Pop Art, Post-modernism, Minimalism and Feminist art. The number of art movements has grown so much that virtually every year avant-garde movements with new names have surfaced in the art world. One movement that dominated contemporary art for several decades was one of the movements I just mentioned, Abstract Expressionism. Artists in this movement felt that the expression of their feelings was the main reason for making art, and the art they made generally had no reference to anything in the external world.

      Although many people love modern and contemporary art, there are some that do not think of it as an art. These viewers think of art as being something like portraits or landscapes….something recognizable. When modern and contemporary artists create something that makes them think, something that is not easily recognizable, then these viewers reject the idea of this even being art.

      After reading through a survey concerning Contemporary art, I noted one quote regarding the matter. She states, “I just don’t think it takes any great talent to spatter paint on a canvas (Jackson Pollack) or paint cubes (Various Artists). How does one discern any meaning to such things? It is like the ink blots during a psychological exam? How do tell good splattering from bad splattering? It’s much easier to look at a painting that gives you some sort of idea of the message it’s trying to convey.” So similar to abstract art, it is more about understanding the concept and knowing about the artist and their artwork to truly grasp the meaning of what they are trying to portray.

      So for today’s world, we will try to enjoy what contemporary art brings us. We will learn to interpret what contemporary artists try to portray with their work. Art is a form of expression, a mode of communication that is supposed to convey some sort of message from artist to viewer. How that is done is up to the artist, and how the message is received is up to each individual viewer.

http://www.OsnatFineArt.com

Art Investment Guide

The Art Ministry asked:

Art Investment Guide

Second only in size to the US market, The UK art and antiques market is worth well over £4 billion a year, and holds a global share of some 26% of the world’s total art sales. In terms of volume, the UK is the largest marketplace for art on the planet.(1). In 2005, the index covering sales of old masters showed growth of 18.8%, while the similar index covering post-war and contemporary art rose 8.3%. Over the past five years, the average annual returns were 3.1% and 17.7% respectively.(2). That’s a better return than investing in stocks and shares.

Buying art can represent a fantastic long-term investment opportunity. In order to help you make an informed decision on the art you buy through The Art Ministry website, we have put together some key considerations to bear in mind when selecting work from our galleries. With over 25 years’ experience in the art market, our team have followed the same steps to ensure all work available in our Online Store is fairly valued.

1. Buy what you like

It’s important to trust your own taste when buying art. Our aim in providing this collection is to offer artwork for every budget that adds interest to your home or office, a talking point that enriches your environment and lifestyle. Great art needn’t be expensive, and buying artwork should primarily be an expression of your own personality. Like stocks and shares, the value of artwork can go up or down, so it’s crucial you buy what you like and can afford. Ultimately the true value of art is in the pleasure or feelings it evokes. The more people that find it appealing the more demand increases, which inevitably increases the value.

2. Do your homework and understand the value of the work

When you view a piece of artwork to buy, pay attention to detail. If you look into the way it has been physically created, how much time it took and the journey the artist went through in producing the piece, you will come to appreciate the skill of the artist and the effort involved in making the work. When it comes to value, don’t be taken in by the medium either. For example, oil paintings are in general more expensive than watercolours, but the latter can require more skill to achieve the desired impression.

The more artwork you look at and the more background information you obtain on various artists and how they work, the more you will learn what you like and why. Comparing the merits of a work with other artist’s work will help you determine the inherent value in any given piece and assist your buying decision. If you want to know what similar work has sold for, use a source like The Art Sales Index, which has catalogued art prices since the 1950’s, or the Mei/Moses Fine Art Index, which tracks various auction price indexes and compares them to the stock exchange to gauge relative performance.

The comparative merits include:

The artist’s exhibition history

The nationality of the artist

What country the artist works in

The medium the artist uses

The size and dimensions of the piece

The price their work has sold for in the past

3. Buy from a reputable dealer

Only buy artwork from a reputable dealer. The best ones will provide extensive background information on the artists in their portfolio, giving details on how they work and what inspires them. Knowing the artist’s passion might also help you find a work that is right for you. Click here to read ‘About the Artists’ at The Art Ministry.

Reputable dealers will also provide a ‘Certificate of Authenticity’ with all original and limited edition artwork sold. This will be signed by the artist and proves the work is 100% genuine and has been accurately valued. These also include the following information:

The title and visual description of the artwork

Edition numbers and collection details

Materials and techniques used

Size and dimensions of the work

The copyright holder

Distributor details

Release date of the artwork

Printer’s details if relevant

Comments from the artist

Notes on caring for the artwork

Sources:

1. The House of Commons Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport (Sixth Report)

2. ‘Is it just art, or is it investment?’ by Joe Bolger, Times Online 17th April 2006, quoting figures from the Mei/Moses Fine? Art Index

If you require more assistance with buying art from our website, please to contact us, alternatively, feel free to browse our to view the work of all our artists.

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